A big change may be coming for some students and staff next year, as the Brown County Schools Board of Trustees is considering closing Brown County Intermediate School.

Superintendent Laura Hammack presented the 10-year vision for Brown County Schools at tonight’s school board meeting.

In that presentation, Hammack discussed the challenges declining enrollment brings to the district. That affects the tuition support funding the district receives from the state, which could result in the district losing more than $1.2 million by school year 2023-2024.

The current enrollment for this school year is 1,667 students. For 2023-2024, that number is projected to be 1,548.

“The bottom line is, when you have less students, you receive less money from the state,” Hammack said.

One of the strategies to combat continued declining funding is repurposing BCIS this June. If the school board approves the plan, all current fourth-graders would remain in their elementary schools for fifth grade next school year. Incoming sixth-graders would move to Brown County Junior High School, which will be renamed Brown County Middle School. Then, after this school year, BCIS will close.

To keep the number of certified staff in line with the closure and to avoid firing teachers, retirement incentives will be provided for both teachers and non-certified staff, like custodians. The district needs to save at least $500,000 for next school year. If five certified teachers decide to retire, that will equal about $450,000, according to Hammack’s presentation.

If teachers and non-certified staff do not take the retirement incentives, reduction-in-force notices will have to be issued to at least five certified teachers and at least 10 non-certified staff.

BCIS would then be repurposed into the “Educational Service Center,” which will be the new home to the Brown County Career Resource Center.

The plan would be to sell the current CRC building and then use the money from that sale to help in renovating BCIS to “better serve adult learners,” the presentation states.

The Education Service Center will also be used to expand early childcare, including infants through school-aged children.

Brown County Intermediate School was opened in the building that used to house Nashville Elementary School in 2013. It has served fifth- and sixth-graders, while the three outlying elementary schools have served pre-K to fourth-graders, and the junior high has served seventh- and eighth-graders.

The school board approved the retirement incentives for both certified and non-certified staff unanimously. At the Feb. 18 meeting, the board will be asked to vote on repurposing BCIS, selling the CRC building and starting the overall transition.

Parents and community members will be able to submit questions on the Brown County Schools website. More information will be posted at browncountyschools.com under the resources tab on Friday morning. Those questions will be used to create an FAQ document which will then be shared with the school board and public.

Board President Carol Bowden said she appreciated the opportunity being given to both certified and non-certified staff as a way to avoid issuing RIF notices. “I sincerely hope it works out for all parties involved,” Bowden said.

Read more in the Feb. 10 issue of The Democrat.